Our Mission:
At Design 4 Impact (D4i), our goal is to transform K-12 education by promoting the adoption and practice of design thinking techniques. We believe that by providing students and teachers with a user-centered framework for problem solving, we can empower young people and educators to become change-makers in their communities. As a social enterprise, we strive to provide access to design challenges, toolkits, and curriculum for underserved schools and communities, and to serve social ventures and global nonprofits through our design challenges and services.
Our Process:
We train our team and others to come up with innovative solutions for social or environmental problems by guiding them through a human-centered design process. Inspired by Stanford d.school, our process involves empathy, definition, ideation, prototyping, testing, and presentation.
Design Thinking = Real World Problem Solving
Spark: Social Innovation Summit
The Spark Social Innovation Summit is happening at Avenues NYC on May 18th! This is a major one-day event bringing together social innovators, educators, and various organizations working in the areas of radical education, youth entrepreneurship, activism, and design thinking. Join us to hear amazing speakers and panel discussions, participate in workshops, showcase your education or impact projects, or pitch your social venture! Spark is completely free and open to the public.
What is Design 4 Impact:
What We Do:
Design Challenges EVENTS
We organize and facilitate activities where participants tackle real-world problems by using the design thinking process. Design challenges are always creative, collaborative, and fun! Whether crafted as 1-hour workshops or as day-long events that are open to the public, our design challenges are flexible and can be tailored for any audience.
Teacher Tools
D4i develops curriculum and toolkits for educators to bring design thinking into their classrooms. We create easy-to-use decks, video tutorials, and compile online resources to help teachers turn students into change-makers. D4i offers consulting and professional development services for schools, administrators, and organizations interested in design thinking and social innovation.
STUDENT-LED D4I CLUBS
D4i wants to empower a new generation of problem solvers and change makers. We have developed and tested a model for students to start their own D4i Clubs within their schools- working with teachers, administrators, and student leaders to organize design challenges and actives. We create networks of D4i Clubs across various schools.
Who We Work With:
D4i’s social innovation takes place at the intersection of Community, Education, and Industry.
Community
We empower people to solve real world problems and become change-makers in their communities.
Education
We provide students, teachers, and schools with the tools they need to teach and practice design for impact.
Industry
We invite in, consult, and partner with real world companies and social ventures to help them solve problems and scale impact.
Instragram Stream:
Our Partners:
